Inner Demons
by Sparkling Cyanide
Summary: In this futuristic AU, Inuyasha meets a stranger from the past and his life takes a turn for the worse.


A/N: I'm back after a break from writing. This isn't the usually sort of fic I write but it's something I needed to put on paper. Be warned however, it probably won't be continued. Rated T for strong language and since this is fanfiction, the standard disclaimer applies. Enjoy.

Inner Demons

Inuyasha came home to his empty apartment after a long day at work. All his days were long. He liked them that way. It helped him keep his mind off... things...

He threw his jacket over the back of a chair, listening to the raised voices emanate from the apartment next door. That would be the neighbours having yet another lovers' spat and when they argued the entire floor was hard put to do anything but listen. Living near people like this who needed television? It was like trash T.V. and a daytime soap all rolled into one.

The couple in question was Miroku and Sango who had been living here long before Inuyasha came to the area. He was a lawyer, putting to use his words and charm where they otherwise might have gotten him into trouble. She was a cop and a mean martial artist. Together they made an odd couple but they were well matched. Despite the regular vocal domestic disputes, Inuyasha knew they'd burn themselves out in an hour or so and then kiss and make up. They had been this way since he came here so why else would they still be together if not for love?

Inuyasha growled in irritation as he heard the sound of breaking dishes. Then came the sound of Sango's raised voice delivering a biting lecture on the virtues of keeping one's hands to one's self. Miroku was a lucky man in many respects but Inuyasha didn't envy him one bit.

Ordinarily, he would have at least been wryly amused by their bickering but tonight it just seemed to grate across his nerves making him agitated and angry. Pushing the sounds of the muffled argument to the back of his mind, he began to feel the loneliness and isolation creeping in on the edges of his consciousness.

Inuyasha, with his long shiny black hair, unusual eyes and excellent physique, should have been considered attractive by many standands, but there was something about him that just drove people away. His eyes, although a rich and beautiful colour, saw too much and it seemed like what they saw made him bitter. Those who encountered him usually felt an underlying sense of danger in his presence causing them to wonder what this silent young man might have been in a previous life. Any attempts to get to know him were met with immediate suspicion and his limited social interactions spoke of one who had seen the injustices done by society and wanted nothing more to do with people. There was something strange about him, strange but intangible. Whatever it was, it caused people to withdraw from him as if burned, leaving him severely alone.

And he liked it that way for the most part. Athough sometimes on nights like these, it really bothered him.

The small apartment he rented reflected his sorry state of mind. It was simple but stark and cold. The furniture was functional but little else. There were few decorations and what there was did not reflect a past or personality of any sort.

It wasn't at all like Miroku and Sango's apartment. They were the people he was closest to although he only knew them through the arguments that drifted across the living room wall they shared. He had caught a glimpse of the interior of their apartment through an open door earlier that day as he was on his way to work. It was nothing like his. Every object seemed to radiate warmth and gave the place a lived-in look that his own was sadly lacking and that made his own situation that much more unbearable. Usually Inuyasha worked long hours not because he needed the money but because he needed to avoid reflections like these. There were times, however when it couldn't be helped.

Tonight must be one of those nights.

Rather than sit here alone with his pain, he grabbed his coat and decided to take a walk.

* * *

The night was cool and breezy, Inuyasha noticed as he shrugged deeper into his leather jacket. The sun had set hours ago, leaving the city to be lit with streetlamps that concealed more than they illuminated as they cast deep shadows across the city streets. The atmosphere, cool and shady beneath lowering skies, seemed rife with possibility. Ominous or not, Inuyasha worried little. Most people, regardless of their intentions thought twice before approaching him.

Tonight, however, he was not so lucky.

As he stepped across the mouth of an alleyway, he was interrupted by a heavy hand on his shoulder. Inuyasha tensed as he was thrown against the wall with inhuman strength and the hand grabbed him by the throat.

"We meet again at last, Inuyasha." A cold voice whispered as the hand tightened it's grip.

Inuyasha stared in shock at the man who had accosted him. His face was obscured by strange tattoos and there was no mistaking the murderous intent in his inhuman yellow eyes. He probably wouldn't get out of this alive, Inuyasha figured. Not that it mattered. He didn't have much to live for anyway, a fact he was beginning to regret.

"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha shouted, the desperation making him hostile. "And how the hell to you know my name?"

"It hardly matters. my brother." The stranger continued. "All you need to tell me is where our father left his heirloom."

"Look, you psycho! I don't have a brother. I don't remember my father and I don't have anything valuable. I don't even have any money on me, for fuck's sake, if that's what you're after!"

His ranting did little to stop the stranger whose lips twisted in a cruel smile. He held up one hand to Inuyasha's face and Inuyasha saw with horror that his fingers ended in twisted claws that glowed in the darkness with an eerie green light.

"If you won't make it easy on yourself and give it to me. I'll just have to take what I want by force."

Before Inuyasha could breathe a word of protest, pain exploded in his head. He fell to the ground, cradling the remains of his right eye as blood dripped though his fingers. Glaring resentfully at the stranger, Inuyasha felt his fear melt away as he was overwhelmed with rage.

Who exactly was this bastard and the what the hell did he think his was doing?

The anger grew in Inuyasha - making his arms and legs tingle with energy, warming his body, causing what remained of his vision to fade to red.

Whether it was the blood or the anger, Inuyasha didn't know and cared even less. All that mattered was wiping the smug look of that bastard's face as he stood there examining something in his bloodstained hands.

With a rush of energy Inuyasha pushed himself to his feet, but before he could make a move, his world spiraled into darkness.

* * *

Kagome was startled back to consciousness, her meditation broken. Meditation was not something she did often but tonight it had felt right.

"Kagome?" Came her grandfather's gentle voice. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know, grandpa." was all she could say, her mind still distracted by the vision. "Something's happening."

* * *

Sesshoumaru stumbled away from the alley, nursing his wounded left arm. It had almost been detached in the previous battle, and even with his supernatural healing abilities, he doubted it would ever be functional again. He had certainly underestimated Inuyasha's power, and as punishment for his folly, he had lost his prize. No matter, he thought as he staggered wearily down the shadowed streets, dripping a trail of crimson blood. He would try agian and this time he would be prepared. After five hundred years of waiting, Tetsusaiga would finally be his.

* * *

Inuyasha woke to the sound of sirens in the distance and realized he was lying on the ground in an alley. He had to get out of here, he thought as he rose dizzily to his feet. He was covered in blood - whether his own or someone else's he couldn't tell - and he didn't want to have to explain himself to the authorities. He couldn't even explain it to himself right now. What happened? As he ran a hand over his face to clear away the dried blood from his eyes, he blinked.

He had vision in both eyes.

How was that possible? Hadn't he lost one of them to that freaky bastard's claws. As he took a deep breath, trying to calm down enough to walk home, Inuyasha noticed that his fist was clenched around something - a small object. He let his fingers relax and in the dim light of the street lamps he could see the shimmer of a black pearl sitting in the palm of his hand.


End file.
